Sauber C31 first to hog the limelight at Jerez

6 February, 2012

Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez with the new Sauber C31 at Jerez

Feb.6 (Reuters) Sauber rolled out their 2012 Formula 1 car in the Spanish sunshine on Monday, the team shrugging off the abrupt exit of technical director James Key and hoping to score consistent points this year.

Sauber team drivers and key staff

The Swiss-based outfit announced last Friday that Key was leaving to take a job in Britain with an unspecified employer.

The C31 car he helped create was presented on the Jerez pit straight with drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi taking off the wraps in front of a ring of photographers on a crisp and clear morning.

“I think we have a strong team,” said Mexican Perez. “James was a key person, a good leader but I think we have very good people at the team who can handle the job and the team will be together.

“I am very confident the team will be very strong,” added Perez, looking forward to his second full season.

Team chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn said Key remained a Sauber employee for an unspecified period but relations had been strained for some time.

“For a while both sides have been thinking that things are not really working out,” she told reporters. “This situation is the result of that.”

“We now have a structure in place which we are confident about that is the right one for the team to go ahead. It’s not any short-term solution for us but a long-term structure.”

Kaltenborn said the team, who have said four existing departmental heads will now oversee the car’s design and development, would not be replacing Key but denied that decision was due to a lack of money.

The new Sauber C31 features a stepped nose

“If we look back 20 years, the team have always lacked funds,” she added.